Thanks

There are many weapons in our spiritual arsenal. One of the most underused and forgotten is "thanks". I think it is also the most powerful weapon. Thanks is not just in words we say to God, but it must come from the attitude of our hearts, and that attitude must be carefully, and diligently cultivated. God knows that our hearts are full of thanks in times of joy and victory. He also knows that thanks is far from our hearts in times of testing, battle, exhaustion, sorrow, pain and disappointment, but this is when thanks is most needed. This is the key for turning the worst into a miracle. In order for thanks to become part of our being, it must be diligently cultivated in our hearts, and cared for like a tender shoot that is barely poking its head above the soil. It is fragile in our hearts, but powerful in the spirit. Like that tender sprout, it has the power of life in it. We must care for it and encourage it to grow until it becomes a mighty tree of thanks that will withstand the ice, the storms, the floods, and the heat of the day.
When we first see a seedling emerge, it is bent over, with its folded leaves still buried in the soil. It looks so vulnerable and easily destroyed. It certainly doesn't have a look of power and might. The essence of its life was confined to that small, hard seed casing, but it had the power within it to split that seed casing and push upward to the light, and to grow roots downward to minerals and water. This is the same power contained within thanks. Because that power is unseen, we tend to overlook it. I would like to look at some scriptures pertaining to thanks.
This is the first mention of "thanks" in scripture:
"Therefore I will give thanks unto thee, O LORD, among the heathen, and I will sing praises unto thy name."   2 Sam. 22:50 (Psalm 18:49)
In this case, thanks is given among the heathen. Heathen can mean Gentiles, people, or nations, but it can also mean "swarm of locusts, other animals".


I read a description of a swarm of locusts on a mid-west farm in the 1800's. The farmer had had several years of puny crops because of adverse weather conditions. However, this year's crops had grown well and abundantly. As he and his new wife were outside one clear late summer morning, he looked out at the horizon, and saw a black cloud approaching. He knew immediately that this was a swarm of locusts. He told his wife to gather all of their clothing and bed linens, blankets, and quilts, and use them to cover the kitchen garden they had growing near the house, while he went to gather the farm animals into the barn. If the animals were left in the swarm, they would run away from terror. She cried out, "What about the fields of crops?". He answered that there was nothing they could do to save the crops, but their garden was the food that they would need to survive the winter. They must do all they could to save as much of those vegetable plants as they could.
The farmer's wife gathered everything she could find to cover the plants in the garden, even removing her dress, to use it as well. Before she could cover even half the plants, the swarm was upon her. She screamed and flailed as the locusts hit her in the face, eyes, and opened mouth. She gathered her wits, and continued covering what she could, sometimes covering the locusts also that had already settled upon the vegetable plants. Her husband came to help her, but some of the garden could not be covered in time.
After the swarm had eaten its fill and had moved on, the farmer and his wife surveyed the damage. The crops, which were their future finances, were destroyed, but some of the garden had been saved. Their rain barrels full of fresh water were now filled with the carcasses of locusts. Even after they removed the locusts from the water, the water was no longer clean tasting, but bitter from the bodies of the locusts. It was a devastation they could not fight against in their own strength. They were helpless before it.
Our scripture verse tells us to offer thanks to the LORD in the midst of the swarm of locusts and other devouring beasts, but as we can see, it would be almost impossible, and against our natural inclination, to do so in the middle of the swarm. Ultimately thanks is not something we can offer lightly, or easily when we need it the most, during the worst circumstances. However, it must become a part of us, part of our living sacrifice.
The only way it would be possible to offer thanks in the midst of a spiritual devouring swarm would be if we had deeply incorporated thanks into our hearts for just such a time as this. Another scripture to help us understand the warfare power and necessity of thanks is the following:
"And with them Heman (faithful, steadfast, sure, stand fast, verified, father) and Jeduthun (from the root yadah meaning thank, confess thanksgiving, CAST OUT, CAST DOWN, THROW DOWN, TO SHOOT ARROWS), and the rest that were chosen (clean, purified, bright, test, prove, make shining, POLISH ARROWS), who were expressed (appointed, named, designated, PIERCE, PIERCE THROUGH, HOLES, CURSE) by name (famous, report, glory, monument), to give thanks (again yadah, to thank, praise, confess thanksgiving, CAST OUT, CAST DOWN, THROW DOWN, TO SHOOT ARROWS) to the LORD, because his mercy endureth for ever (olam meaning eternity, continual, perpetual existence, ancient, from the root alam, meaning concealed, hidden, secret thing) ." 
                                                                                                 1 Chron. 16:41
This verse is not just about thanks as we know it, but thanks as a weapon of spiritual warfare. Thanks in the midst of the enemy swarm makes no natural sense, but it is a secret, hidden truth from ancient days into eternity. It is an everlasting, undying, supernatural (unseen with the natural eyes of understanding) truth.
The Hebrew letters of the word for thanks, yadah, יָדָה , also give us a powerful picture:
The letters are yad, daleth, and he: "Behold, the door, path, way of life, to the finished work, the deed done".
Look at the door, the way of life, of thanks that has been revealed to us, that finishes and accomplishes a work (power).


A Messianic name for Jesus is the Lion of Judah. Judah also comes from the Hebrew word yadah used in the above scripture. When this Lion of Judah roars, He roars thanks and praise to His Father, God. That roar, at the same time, shoots arrows, and casts down, throws down, enemies.
"But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord, Jesus Christ."
                                                                                                1 Cor. 15:57
"Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place."  2 Cor. 2:14
"...we give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come (see olam eternity, above); because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned."
                                                                                                Rev. 11:17
"In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you."
                                                                                                1 Thes. 5:18

Thanks is not an option. It is a command from the will of God for each of us- a command for our benefit, welfare, and victory. The world does not know this hidden thing, but it has been revealed to us. Now, we need to believe it and live it.

Our Father commands us from His will to give thanks.

"Praise You in this Storm"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCpP0mFD9F0

"Thank You, Lord"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K44trVhtZX4

"Thank You, Lord"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXCwGESxsDg